With Sirius basically booting them out the front door to get a move on, Renata and James found themselves outside of the flat and the door closed over in their faces. Left on the steps, the two were quiet for a couple of seconds, trying to establish what had just happened, when they heard knocking from the window off to the side. They looked over to see Sirius and Harry in the window waving at them and eventually, Sirius motioned for them to leave. Able to take the hint, James offered his arm to Renata and waited for her to link hers with his before they made their way down the stairs.

He had the perfect idea of where he wanted to take Renata to dinner, he just hoped that she liked the location when they arrived or it was going to be extremely awkward. However, Renata never came off as a picky person, she often presented herself as easy-going and just able to go with whatever was taking place. So he was feeling a bit more confident in his decision to make the choice for them, rather than ask where she wanted to go. Surprisingly enough, she had yet to ask where they were going, appearing rather content as she walked beside him on the pavement.

She really did look beautiful that night and James had wanted to tell her that earlier, but with Sirius and Harry right there during the moment, he had just entered a panic when he said "yes." Renata didn't say anything though, keeping the smile on her face, although she was probably thinking something similar to whatever Sirius was thinking at the time.

"I really like that dress you're wearing," he said finally as they walked on, the flat disappearing as he led her around a corner. His voice was quiet, sounding quite timid as he didn't want to say the wrong thing when it came to compliments. Thinking back to the compliments he had come up when it came to Lily, he could just feel the secondhand embarrassment wash over him for his past self. 

He had written horribly cheesy poems to Lily, trying to rhyme the colour of her red hair with things, tried to come up with verses about the colour of her eyes, and looking back they were all terrible. Leaving the dramatics aside for the evening, he wasn't going to come up with a poem on the spot for Renata, he was going to keep his compliments simple, but let her know that he truly meant what he said.

"Thank you," Renata replied as she looked over at him, " Sirius picked it out for me."

Suddenly, James snorted and Renata waited to hear what was so funny as she couldn't help but crack a grin.

"Well, it seems he dressed both of us for the occasion," he told her, " he picked out my clothes too. We really just became his dolls for the night, didn't we?"

"Apparently, but you have to admit," she began, " he really does have great taste. You look really handsome, not that you didn't look good before I mean...wait, I mean..."

James felt his heart flutter in his chest as she mentioned that she found him to be handsome and it wasn't only limited to that evening. He watched as she fumbled over her words, probably nervous in her own way and embarrassed that she had blurted it out so quickly. Not that he minded one bit if anything, the doubt of her liking him in return was fading and James found himself feeling practically giddy at the idea.

It was like being a young teenager again with a crush, only this time, he wasn't being so abrasive about it. He had learned from the past that coming off too strong wasn't a good way to go and it seemed his newer approach was paying off. If Renata actually liked him in return the way he hoped it would make every single moment where he second-guessed himself completely worth it.

"Well, what I meant to establish earlier," he said, saving her from her rambling," was that you look beautiful in that dress. Or rather you make the dress look good."

With every compliment the two passed along to one another, they grew redder and redder in the face, yet, they couldn't bring themselves to stop. For weeks, both of them had been tiptoeing around their true feelings due to the fear that the other did not feel the same way. But now that they were alone in the company of each other, it was like they couldn't bring themselves to stop. Everything they had been wanting to say but kept bottled up inside was just bubbling to the surface and spilling out and neither one of them were actually complaining.

They were only thankful for the darkness of the night hiding the deep blushes on their faces every time the other said something.

"Thank you for inviting me out tonight, Mr Potter," Renata said at one point and James suddenly made it his goal by the end of the night to have Renata call him "James" once and for all.

"It's the least I could do," he replied, "especially after I practically ruined everything-"

"You really need to stop saying that," she told him, " you didn't ruin anything. You had a few too many glasses of wine. I think plenty of people have been in your same predicament. It happens but it doesn't mean you ruined everything. I actually had a lot of fun before you had to get some rest."

She was making it sound like it wasn't a big deal that he had gotten drunk, but James couldn't help but think that she was just being polite for the sake of his feelings. He would probably never know the truth of what really happened and maybe he was better off that way. At least Renata didn't seem upset with him, she appeared happy in his company that evening and that was the important thing he was going to focus on.

While Renata walked along with James, the happiest she had ever been to be with him, alone and to have him saying so many wonderful things that left her near a melting point. She couldn't help but wonder where James was taking her for dinner, she hadn't bothered asking earlier, thinking that it was meant to remain a mystery until their arrival. He was leading the way to somewhere as he took turns all around the west side of London. She figured that they weren't heading anywhere in Diagon Alley for dinner and that left her more than curious.

Although she would have been equally as content not eating at all that evening if it meant just walking around with James. He eventually dropped his arm from hers and before she could say anything, he took her hand in his. At first, he just held it but as they progressed on, his fingers intertwined with hers and all she wanted to do was scream. But she stopped herself from doing so because she didn't want James to think she had gone mental.

There were several things Renata noticed as well as they walked and it started off after he grabbed her right hand using his left. She could see that the wedding band was no longer on his finger, something that brought her eyes to widen. From the start, she had been wanting to ask if they were actually on a date and the lack of the wedding ring made her even more curious, but she didn't want to make assumptions. In fact, she didn't want to bring it up at all to James, in case it was simply a matter of him forgetting to put it back on after he showered or something.

Besides the lack of a wedding ring, she noticed that in his other hand, he was carrying what appeared to be a mint green jumper that seemed to clash with the attire he was wearing. She wasn't sure if Sirius had been the one to pick that out for him, but she liked the colour nonetheless. It was a colour that she wouldn't expect to see him wearing, but she suddenly found herself wanting to see him wear it. But it also brought up other thoughts in her head, because didn't seem to be a very cold night, but she wondered if she should have brought a jumper for herself if he anticipated it becoming colder.

They walked along the River Thames and while it was too late for them to actually see the water beside the lights reflecting on the surface, she liked listening to the sound of it.

"Adelmo told me when I first moved here that at one point, the river was dead," she told James, attempting to provide small-talk. Although she wasn't sure if talking about river pollution was the way to go.

"It was," James responded, looking over at her as he adjusted his glasses up his nose, "I remember my father complaining about it all the time when I was younger. He wanted to brew a potion to clean the river from all the pollution, spoke about it nearly every day at one point. He said it was a shame that the muggles treated the river so badly, enough that there wasn't even any fish. The merfolk that lived here had to leave because there was nothing and their young were growing sick and a lot of them were dying."

"That's horrible!" Renata exclaimed. "Did your father end up making the brew to help clean the waters?"

"No," James said, " unfortunately, he ended up getting really sick at one point. Him and my mum, both of them caught Dragon Pox out of nowhere. They couldn't fight it off..."

Using her free hand, Renata placed it over her mouth, feeling terrible that she had brought up a bad memory for James without trying to. If she was being honest, she was always curious as to what had happened to James' parents as she thought about Harry growing up without any grandparents present in his life. James was young, so she didn't think his parents had been that old, but Sirius had once mentioned that Fleamont and Euphemia had James later on in life. James had been their miracle baby that had blessed their lives after they figured they were destined not to have any children of their own.

But to hear that they had both died of Dragon Pox, Renata had never seen it for herself, but Adelmo had once told her about the illness and how it was a horrible way to go.

"I'm really sorry, Mr Potter," she replied quietly, " I didn't mean-"

"No, don't apologise," he said, giving her hand a light squeeze, " really, don't. It's not your fault, it was just something that happened. Dragon Pox took a lot of the elderly, I'm only thankful in the slightest ways that it took both of them rather than just one because I don't think they would have lived happily without the other. They were together...practically since forever. They met while they were at Hogwarts."

"Really?"

"Yeah, my father was in Gryffindor and my mother was in Hufflepuff. Funny enough, the students used to tease my father for his name and he got into a lot of fights when he was young. And then one day, he told me my mum just came out of nowhere during one of his fights and just punched the other boy in the face for him. No use of magic needed, from that point on, he was in love."

"Wow," she said, letting out a small laugh as she could just picture the scenario in her mind.

James wore a proud look on his face, holding his jumper in hand a little tighter in his grip. "My mother was the nicest woman you would ever meet, but if you ever messed with anyone she loved, she could rip your face off faster than you could say "badger." You should have seen the way she ripped into Sirius' mum one year."

James couldn't remember the last time he had spoken about his parents in such an open manner. He had been so devastated when they had both died from the illness that took them so suddenly. But it felt good to talk about them, he laughed at memories now rather than crying over them and Renata seemed to enjoy every story that he shared with her. It left him wishing that she could have met them because he was sure that they would adore her.

They had both loved Lily when they met her, both of them giving their blessing when James proposed the idea that he was going to marry her. Fortunately, they had been alive to be there for the wedding, but it was shortly after that they had fallen ill with Dragon Pox. His mother told him as she remained on her deathbed that she only wanted James to be happy in life. That she wanted him to take care of himself first and foremost. If Lily made him happy then they were happy for the couple.

James wanted a marriage like his parents, probably that's what had been so ingrained in his mind since he was a child. They seemed to have the perfect love story and he wanted something like what they had. He wanted a sweetheart from school that he went on to marry and have a child with, living happily ever after. Everything seemed to be on track too with his plans, but it all ended so abruptly and maybe it wasn't as picture-perfect as he wanted it to be.

Maybe he wasn't destined to have the same story as his parents, it didn't make his any less of a good one, it just meant that he was meant to be different, his story was meant to be his own.

He was sure that if his mother was still around that she would be telling him the same thing, that she wanted him to take care of himself and that she wanted him to be happy.

In the most recent months, his source of happiness had come from a woman he had met in the park by the chance of an accident. She had shown up apparently when he needed her the most and not only had she been there for him, she had been there for Harry and that was the most important thing in James' mind. Just like how Euphemia always wanted him to be happy, James always wanted Harry to be happy in life. It was unfortunate how Harry had been through so much in his young life, but he was given a second chance at happiness.

And James seemed to be given that same chance as well.

They arrived at the Putney Bridge and Renata had to admit, she was extremely confused as James came to a halt. It almost appeared to be the start of a horror film as it was just the two of them standing around in the darkness of the night near the start of the bridge. She glanced over in the direction of the arch bridge, about to question James what was going on when she watched him take out his wand. He wore a smile on his face so it seemed less ominous before he started walking over, pulling her along.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Renata was able to witness as James tapped his wand against one of the slabs of the bridge and watched as the Cornish granite structure began to crumble away, revealing an entrance to a restaurant. Her eyes lit up in wonder, never knowing that there had been a restaurant hidden away within the bridge, which James revealed the name of the place was so originally called "Putney's." And maybe while the name wasn't the most creative, Renata didn't care as he led the way inside.

"Remus introduced me to this place," James told her as they were shown to their seats, an intimate corner in the back where they were able to enjoy the music that was being played by a live band. "It's not the fanciest of places, but they have really nice food and really nice music-"

"It's perfect!" Renata confirmed not having to hear any more. " I didn't even know this place was here and I've been all around London plenty of times. You know, I used to be against the idea of the wizarding world being in hiding, not to sound like Grindelwald or anything. But it bothered me when I was younger, but now that I'm older, I actually like it. It gives me new opportunities to find new places, like this one."

"We'll have to explore London together one day because I have a feeling I can show you some places that you've probably never been...like here."

"I like the sound of that."

Putney's was known for pub food and initially, James seemed nervous about taking her to such a place but Renata seemed to be in love with the place as soon as she walked in. The booth area they were given, wrapped around a small corner, leaving them to sit beside each other and gave them a view of the band that was playing some new wave music. It was a bit noisy but Renata didn't mind as she enjoyed the live play.

Or maybe she was really enjoying the fact that she was cosied up into James' side due to the seating arrangement. To add to her swooning mood, James had placed his arm over the back of the seating, letting it drape lightly on her shoulders. She felt pleasant shivers race down her arms but remained completely still to appear as calm as possible.

Just having him that close was bringing her to think of the dream she had shared in and that was leaving her to feel warm and she hoped James couldn't feel in the rise in her body temperature.